Davao port tagged key to more trade

DAVAO CITY—The multibillion-peso project to reclaim land and build a new port here is seen to play a key role in President Duterte’s inclusive growth plan.

Businessman Reghis Romero II, owner and operator of Harbour Centre Port Terminal Inc., said there would be a need for more ports as trade barriers disappeared between Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) countries and China.

Romero is leading proponent of a P39-billion port and commercial development project in the city which the President approved when he was still mayor.

Romero, in a speech at the 9th Philippine Ports and Shipping 2017, said tariff reductions in Asean and China were expected to reach “unprecedented levels” when Asean economies integrate.

Romero said Mega Harbour Port and Development Inc.’s project in Davao City complements other port projects in Cebu City and Manila.
“The three-port projects in Davao, Cebu and Manila will form the backbone of the national port network that we intend to build across the archipelago,” Romero said. —NICO ALCONABA